There All Along
by DarkWingsDarkWords48
Summary: Jemma Simmons would never have imagined just how much her life would be shaped by their friendship when she first befriended Skye Coulson that day, but now that she knew, she'd never give up the experience for anything. A real world AU, no powers, no SHIELD. Collection of Oneshots in a shared universe. Skimmons (Skye/Jemma), FitzMack
1. Of Meetings And Beetles

_**Disclaimer: I don't Agents of Shield or any related characters. If I did, it'd be Skimmons Central. They all belong to Disney/Marvel/ABC and their affiliated partners. I write this only for my enjoyment (and hopefully yours).**_

 _ **A/N:**_ _Alright, this hasn't been beta'd or anything so there may very well be glaring errors, but at the moment I'm just happy to have freakin' finally written something that I don't hate and delete, for the first time since February. It's been killing me, and finally I stumbled onyo something that's turning out pretty decent. This is going to be sort of a series of oneshots/ficlets set in the same universe. It'll jump around a lot in time and I'm sort of envisioning it as something I come back to and write in-between scenes that come to me so it won't even be in a particularly strict chronological order. Right now that seems to be working for me better than a strict chapter fic, so I'm running with it here._

 _So, here we are, the first of hopefully a series (already halfway through the second oneshot) of oneshots of Skye/Jemma in a real world AU, exploring their lives, starting off from their first meeting here in this ficlet:_

* * *

 ** _Of Meetings And Beetles_**

-==( **8** )==-

* * *

The beetle scuttled along through the loamy earth, between blades of grass and bits of dried pine needles that carpeted the outer edge of the playground, near the chain link that encompassed part of the surrounding woods. Jemma Simmons slowly lowered the thin twig toward it, moving it closer and closer until the beetle stopped and reared back to display its large pincers in a threatening pose toward the stick.

Jemma smiled and used the pencil in her other hand to jot down a short observation in her floral-cover notebook. She was moving the stick closer when a sudden, curious, "Whatcha doin'?" sounded from above where she had taken her seat on the ground, and she dropped the stick and heard a squeak escape her own mouth.

Jemma's head snapped around to look behind her, and she saw another girl with dark brown hair, mere feet from where Jemma was sitting. She was leaning over a fallen tree behind her, arms crossed and resting against the bark, her chin resting against them. Jemma recognized her – she was new to school, and in Jemma's grade so she was likely either seven, or Jemma's own eight years of age. Skye was her name, Jemma remembered from the handful of seconds that the teacher in their class had introduced her before beginning their lesson just a few days back.

"Y-you scared me," Jemma said, blushing at the noise she had made.

Skye grinned, her smile displaying a gap from a missing tooth, and another that was partially filled by one of her adult teeth already halfway in. "Sorry. I was just exploring, and then I saw you playing with that bug and writin' stuff, so I wanted to know what you were doing."

"It's okay," Jemma said, feeling her racing heart start to slow down a bit after the fright. "It's a beetle, and I was studying it."

"Studying it?" Skye asked, her eyes widening, and her face paling slightly. "Do we have a test on bugs they didn't tell me about? I thought they gave me everything to catch up with the class…"

"Oh, no," Jemma giggled, reaching up to pat the girl's arm. "There's no test. There are different kinds of studying." She furrowed her brow for a moment, thinking. "You can study for a test to try to learn and remember stuff. Then there is the studying scientists do, to watch things in nature and write down what happens. I found a stag beetle like this one the other day, and I started to wonder how they see and what they react to, so I've been doing experiments."

"Oh." Skye replied, her nose scrunched up.

For a long moment, Jemma feared Skye was going to be like many of the other kids at the school and either call her a tomboy or a weirdo for playing with bugs 'like a boy', or tell her that science is stupid. She was used to it, and even used to some of their teachers being patronizingly amused by her, dismissive of her dream of becoming a famous scientist. It secretly made her feel like how she imagined her idol, Rosalind Franklin, felt when she became a scientist and wasn't recognized for her accomplishments. But that little thrill that ran through her at that thought didn't make the teasing and the dismissive attitudes toward her dreams hurt any less.

Her fear proved unfounded however when Skye grinned again, tiny dimples forming on her cheeks, and scrambled over the fallen tree to land in a crouch next to her, dirty sneakers crunching the pine needles beneath them. "That's cool. So you're like a scientist, huh?" Skye asked, crossing her legs and then resting her chin on her palm, staring at Jemma with interest.

"I… not yet, but I want to be when I grow up. My mum said I can be whatever I want, and I really love science."

"That's awesome. Phil, my… um, dad, he said almost the same thing to me. I'm not sure what I want to be though. Maybe I could be a scientist too?" She leaned closer to Jemma, their noses almost touching when Jemma turned her head to look directly at her. Skye's brown eyes were bright and hopeful. "Can I help you?"

"Oh," Jemma said, so surprised by the offer she didn't even think to correct her 'can' to 'may'.

Her surprise must have colored her voice, because Skye leaned back, her smile dimming a little. "I mean, I'm not great at science stuff, but if you need any help… I could just watch, too, if that's okay."

"No, no," Jemma quickly replied, nearly dropping her notebook. "Helping would be great. Holding the stick and writing and watching are hard to do all at the same time. You can be my assistant!" Her mind was already flying through the ways Skye could help her, and she felt a giddy thrill rise up in her chest.

"Alright. Just tell me what to do. And, um…" Skye hesitated, awkwardly picking at a scab on her elbow with her fingers.

"Yes?"

"I think you're pretty cool. Wanna be friends?"

Jemma felt her heart pounding so hard she thought it might explode. "I would love to," she extended her hand toward her new friend – her first real friend since she'd started school here in America after her mother's job had forced them to move across the Atlantic. "I'm Jemma Simmons."

Skye eagerly grabbed her hand up with both of her own and shook it. "I'm Skye Coulson. Nice t'meet you, Jemma." She released her grip on Jemma's hand, and then lifted one of her own up, pinky extended.

When Jemma looked at her, confused, Skye reached further and nudged her pinky against Jemma's. "C'mon, pinky promise."

"I- what?"

Skye frowned for a moment. "Oh, don't you do those? Back at my old school people did it. You put your pinkies together and swear you'll always be friends no matter what, forever. It's the biggest promise you can make," she said, her expression firm and serious.

"Really?" Jemma looked down at her hand, feeling very much out of her depth – she'd seen other children doing that with their pinkies before but never understood the significance. She'd never met anyone quite like Skye, let alone had them want to be friends with her or make some forever promise. But maybe… maybe Skye wouldn't get tired of her like so many of her schoolmates in the past had – wanting to befriend the smart girl but not able or willing to deal with what came with that. If they promised…

Jemma lifted her hand, and could feel her fingers trembling slightly as she let Skye link their pinkies together tightly. "Friends always?" She asked softly, looking up from their hands to meet Skye's eyes.

" _Bestest_ Friends, Jemma," Skye answered, her eyes shining, her smile shaky, and at that moment Jemma realized this meant as much to Skye as it did to her.

Skye pulled her finger away slowly, and then looked down at Jemma's notebook. "So, whatcha want me to do to help?"

Jemma perked up and gathered up her notebook, pencil, and the stick, her eyes searching the ground for a long minute. She handed Skye the stick, and tucked the notebook under her arm before standing and brushing loose twigs and dirt from her clothes. "You'll move the stick toward the beetles and help me estimate distance and reaction time. But…" Jemma gestured around the woods surrounding them. "First we need to find a new beetle – mine ran away while we were talking."

"Cool," Skye nodded. "Where should I look?"

"We'll look together," Jemma said, and before she could give it another thought, she reached out and grabbed Skye's hand in hers, and the girl let her lead them toward a spot Jemma knew they'd be able to find more.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _Well there it is, hope y'all liked it. I'm already like halfway through another oneshot set in high school and have notes for some college and afterward. It's sort of a 'slow burn' as far as the time in-story, but shouldn't be all that long series-wise for some Skimmons romance. And I'm really liking the luxury of being able to jump around in this universe's timeline – that's really been one of my big problems with my chaptered stuff, I'll have scenes from various points of the timeline all written out, but then I just stare at the screen for days/months trying to build up the scenes in between to connect everything._

 _Anyway, hope everyone liked it, and here's hoping this gets me out of my rut. I'm hesitant to start working on my chaptered stories again at the moment but I'm slowly motivating myself into trying. Maybe after this next part of this series is finished I'll give it a try (also found a nearly-complete Once Upon A Time oneshot on my harddrive that I'd forgotten about, that should be out soon too after I polish it up)._


	2. Of Mazes And Monkeys

_**Disclaimer: I don't Agents of Shield or any related characters. If I did, it'd be Skimmons Central. They all belong to Disney/Marvel/ABC and their affiliated partners. I write this only for my enjoyment (and hopefully yours).**_

 _ **A/N:**_ _Hey all, back with that next installment of this series. This one is set early high school, so Jemma is 15 (she'd have just missed the age/birthdate cutoff in American schools to have been a grade ahead of Skye) and Skye is 14 in their first year of high school._

 _Also, I was like halfway through writing this when I realized it was a completely different style than the last one. But after a bit of thought I realized my brain was two steps ahead of me because the style is just so_ Skye _, who this chapter focuses on. So yeah, informal present tense will be my Skye writing style and more detached past tense will be for Jemma chapters because it fits both of them so perfectly IMO_

 _Before we start I want to thank everyone for their reviews, likes, follows, and subscriptions and all that jazz, really appreciate the support and glad the first part got such a good reception._

 _Onto the story:_

* * *

-==(14)==-

* * *

"Can't we go do the hay ride instead?" Jemma asks, voice quivering at the end of her question, and Skye glances over at her best friend.

Jemma is looking warily at the towering stalks of corn in front of them and the dark gap that is the entrance to the maze. She's got this little furrow in between her eyebrows, and she has one hand raised to her mouth, gnawing at her thumb, and her other arm is crossed over her stomach like she does when she's uncomfortable with a situation.

They are at their high school's Halloween Festival, just a few months into their freshman year, and have been enjoying the festivities for much of the evening. Carnival games, bobbing for apples, even a pumpkin carving contest that they both entered in – and Skye is quite proud that she managed to hook a third place victory for her Chewbacc-o'lantern, which won her a handy thirty bucks.

But now it is getting darker, and people are starting to take part in the spookier things, like the haunted house that had been set up – Jemma had straight up refused that one – or this nighttime walk through the corn maze.

Jemma is dressed up in a full on labcoat, looking every part a researcher - complete with a pair of chemistry goggles resting on top of her head. Skye, on the other hand is dressed up as an 'archeologist' – or something thereabout. Not something she wants to be, but really, Indiana Jones kicks some serious ass, and she is _rocking_ these khaki pants and this fedora. She's even already had some of the seniors eyeing her for most of the night, and a few even trying to chat her up – which, _gross_.

"Fine, we can hit up the hay ride after this, Jems," Skye concedes. "C'mon, this won't take long at all, you're awesome at puzzles like this."

Jemma glances up, still biting her thumbnail. "Skye..." she sighs.

Skye shakes her head. "I knew I shouldn't have made you do that horror movie marathon with me last night," she mutters.

Skye reaches up and grabs Jemma's wrist, pulling it away from her mouth before the honey-brown haired girl can chew her nails down to the quick. Skye turns her hand and lets it slide down until their palms are pressed together, and then twines their fingers. "So it's a little creepy," she says, "but its fine. I'll be right here with you the whole way, Jemma. And I'll punch any creepy serial killers in the face if they're in there, 'kay?"

Jemma giggles weakly when Skye clenches her other hand into a fist and shakes it toward the maze, and Skye knows she's got her.

"Oh, very well, Skye," she finally groans. "But I'm calling you in the middle of the night and waking you up if I have nightmares from this. I will not be the only one to suffer from your latest urge to frighten me."

"Deal!" Skye grins, and moves slightly closer so their shoulders bump as she gives Jemma's hand a little squeeze.

* * *

-==(14)==-

* * *

The maze is cast mostly in shadow, but there is enough light from the full moon – Skye almost wishes she'd gone as a werewolf now – that filters down through the thin clouds for them to see where they are going after they enter the maze. The corn is tall, much taller than they are, and the shadows make it hard to keep track of where they've been, with every turn and dead end looking the same.

It's been over a half hour and Jemma's hand is sweaty in hers, and she can tell that the longer they're in here the more nervous and creeped out she gets by every noise and every sudden scream and shriek in the distance from others being startled throughout the maze. And Skye knows it's a huge several acre maze, but _she's_ even getting a little unsettled by the creep factor and by how long it is taking them to find the way out.

And _maybe_ she shouldn't have done that horror movie marathon either. Because _maybe_ she's starting to see Freddy Kruger and Jason-shaped shadows from the corner of her eyes, and _almost_ hearing the sound of unsheathing knives. And _maybe_ she's holding Jemma's hand a little too tight, even though the shorter girl doesn't seem to mind.

There's a rustling, the sound of footsteps, but it's so dark and the wind is blowing and sounds are so strange amongst the stalks of corn that Skye has no idea where they're coming from. But they're moving closer – getting louder, and they can hear someone breathing heavily.

"H-hello?" Jemma calls out, her voice squeaking slightly. "Hello, we're dreadfully lost, do you happen to know the way out?"

The footsteps speed up for a moment and then stop completely, and Skye is starting to _freak the hell out_ , and she feels Jemma's other hand shoot up and grip her forearm tightly while her other hand holds hers with a death grip. And then – _then_ – they hear a fuckin' _howl_ off in the distance like you hear in the movies before someone gets _eaten_ by something, and Jemma whimpers and Skye is very much feeling like doing the same thing right now.

The footsteps are still absent, but Skye is pretty sure she can hear soft rustling, like someone trying to be quiet and stealthy. But it's hard to hear over her and Jemma's heavy, frightened breathing, especially when the shorter girl has practically burrowed into Skye's side, nails digging into Skye's arm, and her mouth is currently located a few inches below Skye's ear.

"Skye, this was a terrible idea," Jemma says – so low it's almost a whisper, and now Skye feels like an asshole because Jemma is shaking, and it sounds like she's about to _cry_ and if she'd just gone on the stupid hayride like Jemma wanted, they wouldn't be about to have their limbs hacked off by an ax murderer.

"I know Jems, I'm sorry for-" she starts to murmur.

"BOO!" a loud shout emerges from _right_ behind them; Jemma screams and Skye yelps.

Then Skye is whirling around, using the arm Jemma is holding to shove the other girl behind her so that she has a fighting chance to get away. Skye's free hand is curled into a fist and already swinging at the demented creature bursting from the shadows that looks like some sort of bloodthirsty Bigfoot to her.

It connects, and the impact hurts her knuckles, but she thinks the fright of the moment must have given her a lot of strength because the creature-slash-ax-murderer tumbles backward like a felled tree after she hits it. She's ready to move in and kick the crap out of it, her ears filled with the sound of the pounding of her blood and little else, but suddenly Jemma's hands on her arm are holding her back, and Skye can faintly hear Jemma telling her to stop. A moaned "What.. the… hell…." that sounds decidedly Scottish and originates from the felled creature quickly tells her why.

" _Fitz?_ " Skye sputters, moving closer so he is more visible in the light of the moon, and indeed she finds herself staring down at the slim young man who they met their first day at the high school and quickly became fast friends with. He's literally as big of a nerd as both of them, and just about as brilliant as Jemma, and he fit right in almost immediately. Skye has even joked that they're so close of a trio that all she needs is a lightning-bolt scar and a British accent and they'll be truly complete.

"Bloody hell, Skye, I think you broke my nose," Leo Fitz mumbles through the gloved hands he is holding to his face.

Jemma has let go of her hand, and kneels down next to him, carefully pulling his hands away so she can look at his nose – bleeding and a bit swollen-looking. She's clearly trying not to giggle as she does so, and gingerly feels at his nose with her fingers.

The vision of the crazed Bigfoot does make sense, as Fitz is dressed up in a full body monkey costume. And really that's not surprising because wow, he's crazy-obsessed with monkeys, and Skye is almost a hundred percent certain that if he could legally do it he'd marry a monkey and settle down and raise little Fitzmonkey babies.

"Shit," Skye mutters, and when Jemma shoots her a look, she rolls her eyes. "Sorry – _shoot_."

"Well, it doesn't appear to be broken, Fitz," Jemma finally says, standing up and brushing corn-hair fibers off of her knees. "But it will be quite swollen for a while."

She pulls a small kerchief – because of _course_ Jemma is carrying one even in costume – from a pocket and hands it to him to daub the blood from his nose. "What on _earth_ were you thinking, Fitz?"

"She hit me! Shouldn't we be worrying about that? I think her costume is going to her head!" He asks, pointing a big monkey-glove finger at Skye.

"What? You're the one creeping around and jumping out at us like a rabid monkey! You scared the heck out of us, you doofus! You're lucky Jemma realized it was you – I was about to kick you in the nuts!"

Fitz's eyes widen, and he quickly crosses his legs, turning his body to the side away from her.

"Honestly, Fitz, Skye is right, you scared me to death – it's bad enough we were lost in here, and you thought it would be a good idea to scare us?" Jemma scolds, her arms crossed in front of her chest, looking sternly down at their friend.

"I, ah, yes?" Fitz says cautiously. "I was actually looking for the two of you, but when I heard you say you were lost I couldn't help it."

"Prat," Jemma huffs, smacking the back of his head, cushioned by the stuffed monkey headpiece he is wearing.

" _Lucky_ prat," Skye adds, nodding down toward the boots she had worn to complete her costume, even as she extends a hand to help him up, and she grins when she sees his face go white behind his mask.

"C'mon, let's get out of this maze and go on that hayride, and get this monkey something for his nose, Jemma."

Jemma laughs, and grabs Skye's arm again while Skye loops her own over Fitz's shoulders.

"Please tell me you know the way out after you went to all this trouble trying to scare us?"

"Not exactly, but I _have_ been making a map as I walked," Fitz says, and fishes into some sort of pocket in his costume to pull out a piece of paper with an intricate drawing of the maze. "So we could follow it back to the entrance or use it to figure out the exit."

Skye glances over to Jemma, meeting her eyes. "Entrance!" they both blurt out at the same time, making Fitz look at them in confusion.

"Okay then… this way," Fitz points down an opening in the maze that they'd walked right past just a few minutes ago, and they make their way down it and Skye is pretty sure she can hear him muttering about archeologists with strong right hooks.

* * *

-==(14)==-

* * *

Skye's eyelids scrape harshly as she squints them open to the harsh ringing sound that wakes her up. She'd been having a very nice dream about the rather uneventful hayride they'd been on, and realizing just how fortunate she was to have her friends – especially Jemma. She'd been a nervous, scared little girl when she met Jemma, and nearly hadn't even spoken to her as she watched her that day in the forest, but something about the girl had led to her initiating their meeting.

Skye slaps angrily at her alarm clock for nearly half a minute before she realizes it isn't what is making the noise. She groans when the ringing – which stops for nearly a minute – starts up again, and she forces herself to further wakefulness until she realizes it's her phone. And she's pretty sure she's gonna murder whoever woke her up.

"Whozzit?" Skye manages after three swipes of the answer button on the screen, her lips sticky from that gross sleep-glue stuff that always tries to practically wire her mouth shut while she's asleep.

"Skye…." Jemma's soft, hesitant voice comes over the phone, and Skye's almost certain she can even _hear_ the chewing-her-lip-when-she's-uncertain thing that she's seen Jemma do so many times.

She forces herself further awake at the realization of who called her, and forces back a yawn. "Crap, what time is it?" She pauses a beat and answers her own question by looking at the alarm clock glaring "3:30" in red letters at her. "Y'had a bad dream?"

"Mmhmm…." Jemma replies, sounding embarrassed.

"Wanna talk?"

"Actually," Jemma says slowly, and then there's a tapping at Skye's window that makes her jump, and her eyes dart over to it and she sees Jemma peering into the window at her, brown eyes wide and pleading.

Skye tosses the phone down and hurries over to the window, stubbing her toe on her desk chair as she does so, and opens it to the cool night air. Jemma is shivering in a pair of jeans, and a hoodie that Skye is pretty sure Jemma filched from her, and her bike is resting against the big tree along the side of Skye's home.

"C'mon," Skye extends a hand to Jemma, and helps her climb in through the window, and then – after a little bit of struggle – they're standing together, Jemma looking up at her.

"I'm sorry Skye," Jemma says, wringing her hands together. "I was really just teasing when I said I'd wake you up, but my dream was terrible, and my parents had a _bit_ too much fun at their Halloween party and they're passed out drunk in the living room, and…"

"So you came here," Skye finishes. "It's okay, Jems. You can stay the night if you want."

"Thank you," Jemma sighs, the tension of her shoulders leaving them.

"First things first, jammies," Skye turns, striding over to her dresser, and it's been far too long since they've had a proper sleepover but she still has the set of pajamas that Jemma likes best – Star Wars, of course, complete with Leia looking damn fierce, holding a blaster.

Jemma grins widely at them when Skye tosses them to her, and she peels out of her clothes and tugs them on while Skye hops back into bed and pulls the covers back. Jemma practically dives in, and pulls them up over the two of them, before sliding her arms around Skye, forcing her to stifle a shriek as two small, ice-cold hands burrow up the back of her shirt.

"Jeez, you're cold. You really biked all the way here?"

Jemma nods, her cold nose pressed into Skye's shoulder as she continues to practically envelop Skye in her attempt to get warm.

Skye just chuckles, and wraps her arms around the petite girl, pulling her even closer under the warmth of the covers. "D'you wanna talk about your dream?"

Jemma hums, and lifts her face out of Skye's pajama shirt, resting her chin on Skye's shoulder. "Would you know, I can't even remember?" Jemma's cheeks are red – probably from a mixture of embarrassment and cold air. "I just remember it was terrifying, and I woke up and all I could think about was wanting my best friend to hold me."

Skye snorts, and squeezes Jemma in an even tighter hug. "That I can do, Jemma. Always."

Jemma's eyes wander up her face, and meet her own, and Skye finds her mouth speaking before she even thinks about it. "Thank you, Jemma - I'll always be thankful that you were willing to be my friend, and put up with me. Even when I'm an idiot or when I get into trouble and pull you into it with me. Even when I talk you into watching scary movies and going into a creepy-ass corn maze."

"How _couldn't_ I be?" Jemma says, her voice completely open. "You're amazing, Skye, and you're always going to be my best friend." Her lips curve into a sleepy smile. "Bad girl shenanigans and all."

Skye sighs, and holds Jemma as she falls asleep, and it isn't too long before she's drifting back to sleep herself, dreaming of fighting Freddy Kruger and evil Sasquatches, with a pretty brunette by her side.

* * *

-==(14)==-

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _So again, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this one as much as the last. I've got at least one more of these in the mostly-done stages and several others already outlined (the others being more college and later). The one I'm almost done with is a bit after this one, later in high school, and is a bit darker/angstier and handles a bit of a rough subject matter, but I'm liking how it's coming along and it tells a very important part of this Skimmons AU in their lives._

 _Until next time!_


	3. Of Bullies And Solidarity

_**Disclaimer: I don't Agents of Shield or any related characters. If I did, it'd be Skimmons Central. They all belong to Disney/Marvel/ABC and their affiliated partners. I write this only for my enjoyment (and hopefully yours).**_

 _ **A/N:**_ _Howdy folks, thanks for all the great feedback from the last part. Here we are back for another installment in the There All Along series. This one delves into a bit deeper/darker subject matter, namely bullying and homophobia. It's a bit later in high school for Jemma and Skye, and some not-so-nice stuff happens, but we get a happy ending. TW for homophobic language and physical violence/gaybashing._

 _On with the story:_

* * *

-==(16)==-

* * *

Jemma finished pulling back her still-damp hair after her shirt settled around her shoulders. The shower-damp locks quickly dampened the back of her shirt all the way down to her mid-back, but that was par for the course with showering in the locker room after phys ed. Their current section was swimming so twice a week she had been spending her afternoon in the pool and in the showers, trying to get rid of the chlorine smell.

The locker next to hers slammed shut, and she looked around the door of her own to see Skye standing there in a denim button-up and a pair of dark-blue jeans, drying her messy chocolate-brown hair with a towel.

"Skye, I was thinking maybe we could study for that History exam tonight? And I wanted you to go over my proposal for our GSA bake sale before I turn it in to Principal Garrett tomorrow, just to make sure I haven't forgotten anything."

The bake sale would be the Gay-Straight Alliance club's first real test at getting and keeping funding outside of the meager club funds the school had provided them. It had been enough of a fight to get approval from the principal and the school board to even start the club a few months ago.

Jemma had been the one to get it started, after one of their classmates - a girl she'd partnered with perhaps once or twice in a few classes - had committed suicide after her extremely conservative family discovered she was a lesbian. Seeing someone so much like her, end her life because she felt alone and hated, had driven Jemma to start the club and give others at the school a safe place to get support from other LGBT kids and straight allies.

Starting the club and coming out at school had turned out to be a bit more daunting than she'd expected. Sure, she hadd come out as bisexual first to Skye – which had really been the easiest for her – and then to her parents over the summer after her freshman year, but it had been a big step to do it at school. And of course, it led to some nasty bullying from some and hate-notes telling her to leave school or to kill herself, but the response from many other students had been overwhelmingly positive. And now, the little trio she'd formed with Skye and Fitz had expanded dramatically to the many new friends they made in their GSA.

"Oh, damn, I'm sorry Jemma," Skye finally answered, with one last vigorous rub of her towel to her hair before she tossed the towel onto the bench behind her, and looked over to Jemma. "I'd love to study with you, but I'm going out with Miles tonight. I guess I forgot to tell you that."

"Oh," Jemma glanced away, and busied herself with her backpack, feeling a little stab to the heart at the mention of Miles Lydon. Coming out to Skye had been easy enough, but she'd never worked up the courage to tell her quite everything. Because telling her straight best friend that she was bi was one thing. Telling that same straight best friend that she was head over heels for her was quite another: probably the one possible way she could ruin their friendship – or at least make it extremely awkward.

So she'd never told her, and now she had to watch Skye and Miles mooning over one another. And the worst thing was, Miles actually seemed like a pretty decent guy and seemed to like Skye for who she was, and made her happy. So Jemma had to swallow her own pain at watching them, and remind herself that she just wanted her best friend to be happy, and to stay in her life even if it wasn't the way Jemma would have wanted.

Her disappointment must have shown because Skye nudged her with an elbow, and looked down at her with that apologetic puppy-dog look that made Jemma's knees feel like they were about to turn to jelly.

"Hey, sorry, Jems. Listen, shoot me that proposal in an e-mail and I'll look over it tonight when I get back, and I'll get it back to you before you leave for school in the morning." When Jemma nodded her assent, Skye continued. "We can always study tomorrow night for that test, how 'bout that?"

Jemma rolled her eyes. "The test is _tomorrow_."

Skye's eyes went wide. "Really? Crap, I thought it was on Friday. Well…. I guess I'll just have to cram in the morning and wing it." She studied Jemma for a long moment. "I mean, unless you really need my help studying, I can just call Miles and tell him we'll go out a different night…"

Jemma wanted to just say yes to that, and she knew Skye would drop her date the moment she did. But she knew she'd hate herself for it after, so she shook her head and smiled lightly. "It's okay, Skye, really, I'll be fine. Bobbi will probably have a study session tonight with Hunter and Kara, and I can just join them. Just… make sure you study, okay?"

"Roger that," Skye winked. "I know, I need good grades to get into a good college."

Skye shifted closer, until their elbows bumped, and then she slid her pinky around Jemma's. "Next test we're total study-buddies, 'kay?"

Jemma flushed, and couldn't keep a silly smile from her face at Skye's gesture – even all these years later, they still reminded each other of that little pinky promise they'd made when they first met. "I'll hold you to that, Skye. Now go, do your gross girlfriend things with Miles, I'll hunt down Bobbi and get a ride home with her. And remember to eat a good breakfast if you're going to do your studying at the last minute."

Skye chuckled, and nudged shoulders with her. "Okay. Have fun, my adorable British worrywart. You want me to carry your eight-ton backpack for you?"

Jemma swatted her arm, rolling her eyes. Sure, she had her backpack crammed full with books and notebooks and supplies, and yes, it was heavy, but nearly every day Skye would insist on grabbing it and carrying it so Jemma wouldn't have to lug it around.

"I'm fine, Skye. Thank you."

"Okay, gotta go then, seeya tomorrow," Skye finally said, twisting their pinkies until she could fully grab Jemma's hand and give it a squeeze, and then she released it and grabbed her own backpack.

Jemma sighed softly as Skye threw her a little wave over her shoulder as she left the locker room. She busied herself with rearranging her backpack, and tried not to pay any mind to that little claw of jealousy digging in her gut at the thought of Skye out with Miles on their date. She hated that feeling, but couldn't get rid of it, no matter how hard she had tried.

After hefting her heavy backpack up onto her shoulders, she left the locker rooms and headed toward the doors of the gymnasium that led outside – there was a shortcut around the back of the school she often used to get to the front, rather than the roundabout path through its halls that she'd have to take. She was lost in her thoughts about Skye, so lost that she didn't even see the person that shoved her as she exited the doors.

All she felt was a sharp, violent push from behind, and then she went tumbling forward. Jemma tried to throw out a hand to catch herself but the quickness of the impact and the heavy weight of her bag worked against her, and she could almost hear a sickening pop as she caught herself. Sharp, agonizing pain jolted through her body from the shoulder she knew she'd just dislocated, and her vision swam with bright stars and almost greyed out at the pain.

Jemma managed to draw in a shaking breath, but couldn't do much more than lie on the ground and clutch her limp arm with her uninjured one. Even the slightest movement of it was painful. Several pairs of sneakers became visible in her field of view, and she looked up expecting to see someone who was going to help her.

Instead, her heart sank at the sight of four girls who she knew were some of the students who had been leaving notes in her locker and whispering slurs when they knew she could hear them. Myka Jackson, their ringleader and one of the stars of the school soccer team, was closest to her, and looked down at her with a mix of amusement and poorly veiled disgust.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going, faggot. You think you can just run around starting your sick little gay club and get away with trying to make other people into freaks like you?" the blonde-haired girl said cruelly, and stepped closer until she could dig the toe of her shoe into the arm Jemma was holding. Jemma forced back a sob even as it felt like her arm was on fire.

"The stupid bitch should just kill herself and remove a complete waste of space from the planet," one of the others – Mandy, or Abby, Jemma couldn't recall – spat out.

"I caught the lesbo peeping on me in the showers the other day. Who knows what kind of sick stuff she was planning. I don't even feel safe going into the showers anymore with her around," a third girl said.

"Freak," Myka growled, and removed her foot, only to bring it forward again.

Jemma gasped frantically for air after it was driven out of her by the sharp toe of the shoe slamming into her stomach. It felt like every one of her organs had simultaneously exploded with the blow.

She couldn't hold back her tears anymore, couldn't defend herself, could only just lay there and try to curl into a protective ball as Myka's little gang joined in, punching and kicking, while Jemma pleaded with them to stop. Myka was particularly nasty, aiming another kick at Jemma's shoulder, and the pain was too much, and Jemma could feel herself passing out.

She was only conscious long enough to see Myka kneel down with a pair of scissors in front of her – and for a moment she thought the other girl was about to stab her. Instead, as everything faded to black, Jemma felt a rough hand jerking her hair, scraping her face against the concrete ground. And the last thing she heard was Myka's voice – tinny and distant, like it was coming from down a tunnel.

" _If she wants to be a dyke, she should look the part."_

* * *

-==(16)==-

* * *

When Jemma's mind swam back into consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that her whole body ached. It wasn't _painful_ , exactly, just a deep, heavy ache she'd felt before in fifth grade. The ache of a pain that was really there but was dulled with strong painkillers. She had fallen out of a tree – Skye had convinced her to climb it with her – and broken her arm, and had been given some pain medicine and had her arm put in a cast.

Then Jemma felt a warm hand on her arm, and as she struggled to open her eyes and work her too-dry mouth, she realized she could smell the strong, sickly odor of a hospital room. And just beneath that was a familiar scent, of vanilla and cloves.

"M-mum?" Jemma croaked, her voice sounding cracked and foreign to her ears, and she forced her eyes open against the bright ceiling lights.

"Jemma!"

Evelyn Simmons' face was hovering above her in mere moments, the other woman's eyes were filled with concern and welled up with tears. Jemma had taken mostly after her mother in looks – her brown eyes and her nose were definitely from her father, though – and sometimes it was truly like looking at an older version of herself.

"Oh, sweetheart, you're awake," her mother's voice quivered as she reached out with a warm, soothing hand and stroked Jemma's forehead.

"Wha-" Jemma coughed and worked her mouth until she managed to get a little saliva to let her speak less painfully. "What happened?"

"Do you remember anything, Jemma? What's the last thing you can remember?" Her mother asked gently.

Jemma frowned, and furrowed her brow, trying to get her brain to work for her, fighting against the fuzziness of the pain meds. She felt a crinkle on the right side of her face and realized it was bandaged, and an attempt to raise her right arm to touch the bandage revealed that her arm was immobilized against her.

"I… I don't know, the last thing I remember was swimming, and talking to Skye." Another attempt to move her arm sent a tiny stab of pain into her, and suddenly bits of memories began to ooze their way back into her brain like drops of cold molasses. Leaving the gym. Being pushed. Myka Jackson.

She could hear the beeping of her heart monitor speed up, and she gasped in a breath. "Those girls… they attacked me. They…" Her good arm moved up quickly, jerking the IV taped to it, until her hand reached her head. Her hair had been cut, to within perhaps an inch of her own scalp, and her fingers stuttered over her head, expecting to hit her long locks but instead meeting air.

"They…" She lowered her hand and curled it over her mouth as she sobbed. "Oh, mum."

Her mother's arms were around her in an instant, and then Jemma didn't care about the dull throb of her shoulder, or the wires and lines they were crushing, or the dreadful feeling of helplessness and vulnerability as she remembered everything that had happened, everything that they'd done to her. She had her mum holding her and everything was better, at least for the moment.

She cried out her story into her mother's shoulder, telling her everything every word they'd said, every blow they'd struck, and Jemma could feel her mother's own tears falling against her hair as they clung tightly to one another.

It wasn't until what felt like hours that her mother pulled back, and Jemma felt as if she'd cried out every tear that she had.

"How long have I been unconscious?" It felt as if the attack had just happened, and she could feel a nervous energy in her gut, like her body was still expecting Myka and her friends to return at any minute.

"Three days. It's Friday – they banged you up rather terribly, honey. You woke up a few times yesterday but you weren't very coherent."

"What happened… to them?" Jemma asked, her throat sore and hoarse.

Evelyn's green eyes flashed, lips curving back from her teeth in an outright _snarl_ , and Jemma couldn't think of a time she'd ever seen her mother so angry.

"Your… _principal_ ," Evelyn spat the word contemptuously, "gave them a week suspension, and a month of counseling with the school counselor. That's it. The bloody bastard looked at your father and I, and to our faces told us that they were just troubled girls who didn't know any better, and then he tried to lay the blame on you for your own attack!"

Jemma looked down at her lap, picking at the threadbare hospital blanket with her good hand. She hadn't expected much more from Principal Garret. She'd had to nearly force him kicking and screaming to start their GSA, and no doubt he was using that as a scapegoat for the girls. "Not surprised," she murmured. "Where's daddy?"

"He's meeting with some lawyers, Jemma. The local prosecutors don't want to press charges, so we're looking at directly suing the school for letting this sort of thing happen, and the girls' families."

Jemma nodded slowly, wondering if that would make things better or make them even worse at school. She felt as if her heart stopped when her mother spoke again.

"Your father and I have been looking at alternatives – we're close enough to the edge of the district for you to easily transfer over to another school, or we have enough money that we could swing a private school for you-"

" _NO!_ " Jemma herself was surprised by the vehemence in her own voice. "No, mum, I don't want to go somewhere else. _They_ would win – they would get what they want, and I'd be running away. I… I started our GSA to try to help other kids like me and to be a role model for them. I can't just… just give up and leave because of a few homophobes bullying me, mum. I can't. And my friends… I couldn't live without Skye and Fitz, and all of the wonderful people I've met in our club."

Her mother's face softened, and she stroked Jemma's arm soothingly. "Okay, sweetheart. We won't make you transfer if you don't want to. I just worry. They could have done so much worse to you. People like them _have_ done so much worse to kids just like you, and it hurts my heart every time I hear about and think how it could be _you_ , Jemma."

Jemma sniffled, and grabbed her mother's hand awkwardly. "I know, mum, but I _need_ to stay."

Evelyn swiped at her own red-rimmed eyes, and squeezed Jemma's hand tightly. "I love you, Jemma. If this is what you need, we'll be here every step of the way to make sure this never happens again. And I know your friends will be too."

Jemma smiled a watery smile, and glanced at the table her mother nodded to, and found it covered with flowers and get well cards and even a balloon or two. She could make out Skye's sloppy, curvy handwriting on one of them, and she glanced up at her mother.

"Where's Skye?"

Evelyn's smile warmed, and she glanced toward the door. "At home. She's been here constantly, sitting with you while your father and I have been dealing with everything. Phil finally convinced her that you'd be cross with her if she made herself sick not getting sleep to stay here. I… don't you let that one go, Jemma, she cares about you so much. I let myself drift away from my best friends after high school, and I've always regretted that, and I never even had anything even close to what you have with Skye."

Her mother sighed then. "Jemma… Skye was the one that found you after those girls attacked you. I guess she forgot to ask you something and came back to try to find you, and, well, she did, right as they were walking away."

Jemma felt her stomach clench, at the thought of Skye seeing her like that – like _this_ , so weak and unable to defend herself.

"She got herself a three week suspension – which told me everything else I needed to know about your principal – for attacking the girls that hurt you. Fitz had to pull her off of that Myka girl, and from the one time I've seen her, it looks like her face came out of it looking much worse than what they did to yours," Evelyn gently touched Jemma's bandaged cheek. "She really cares about you, sweetheart."

Jemma's cheeks flushed and felt as if her heart warmed and expanded until it was going to explode from her chest, and she smiled, even though it hurt her dry lips. "I know, mum," Jemma sighed and stared across the room at the card with Skye's handwriting on it – a little Yoda-shaped card that said 'Feel better, you must', which looked to have been painstakingly cut out of cardstock by hand. Her smile never leaves her lips. ' _I care about her too. Too much for my own sanity.'_

* * *

-==(16)==-

* * *

Skye didn't come by until that evening. Jemma's father had come in the afternoon, and that visit had nearly had her sobbing again when he held her tight and told her he'd make sure they didn't get away with what they did to her. And then had talked her into going to a self-defense class he'd found at some point while she'd been unconscious. That was his only condition for letting her return to school and not transfer.

Her parents had left to get some food from a nearby takeout – they'd apparently had more than enough hospital food in the last few days to last them a lifetime – and a quiet knock at her door startled her from her dozing.

"Yes? Come in."

The door opened slowly, and could feel her stomach flip-flop when she saw Skye's much-too-adorable face poke in. Having her parents comfort her had been wonderful, but she had still been longing for her best friend to hug her and hold her.

Skye smiled through a healing split lip, and held up a bouquet of violets – Jemma's favorite – and entered the room. "Hey. Sorry I didn't come earlier, Jem, my dad-"

Jemma cut her off with a sharp gasp when the light of the room fully caught Skye's figure, and she saw that the other girl's hair was shorn off like her own, with only a short fuzzy covering left across her head. "Skye! Your hair-!"

Skye's grin went wider, and she rubbed a lazy hand across her head while she set the flowers down on the table next to the card she had made. "I know, d'you like it? I figured if you were going to start a new trend, I'd give it a try," she joked hesitantly.

"Oh, Skye," Jemma choked out, and tears spilled thick and heavy over her cheeks as she stared at her friend.

Skye's eyes widened, and she moved forward to grab one of Jemma's hands. "Shit, I'm sorry, Jemma, maybe I shouldn't have, but I just wanted to help, and like, not let those bitches get to you. If you really don't like it I'll fix- er, well actually I can't really fix it, but I'll go get a wig or something-"

Jemma giggled through a sob. "Oh shut up, Skye, I'm just… overwhelmed. Thank you. You're such a doofus - I just… I can't believe you did that for me."

"Anytime, Jems," Skye replied, looking a bit relieved that Jemma wasn't actually upset about it.

"You're wonderful."

Skye puffed out her chest. "I know," she said, and Jemma laughed and leaned up to yank her friend into a tight hug – as best she could with one arm.

Skye hugged her back, carefully but tightly, and pressed a soft kiss to Jemma's forehead. "Y'know, I talked Bobbi, Kara, and Akela into doing it too. Fitz would've too, but right now his hair's so short that we'd need to shave him bald to cut it any shorter. We all care about you, Jems, and we're all gonna stand with you against this bullshit that they're trying to pull."

"Language," Jemma admonished as she poked her fondly in the ribs. "Thank you, Skye," she whispered thickly, pressing her face into Skye's shoulder to take a calming breath.

Jemma pulled back then, and ran her eyes over her friend, taking in her injuries. The cut lip she had seen already, but there was also a sickly green bruise on her cheek, and when Jemma pulled back far enough she took Skye's hands into her own – a bit awkwardly with her right hand, but she managed. She ran her thumbs gingerly over the scabbed-up knuckles, and then met Skye's gaze, noting the bags around her eyes from lack of sleep.

"Are you alright? My mum told me… what happened."

Skye shrugged and looked down, letting her fingers tighten around hers as Jemma's thumbs continued to move soothingly over Skye's knuckles. "I'm alright. Got an elbow or two to the face, but I gave a hell of a lot more than I got."

Skye blew out a slow breath. "I was coming back to find you – I realized that I needed to give you back those Chemistry notes you loaned me, and I went out back, and…" She shook her head. "I don't know. I saw you, lying there, saw what they _did_ , and they were walking away laughing."

Jemma sucked in a quavering breath, trying to keep her brain from imagining what it would have been like had it been _her_ walking in and seeing _Skye_ lying there like she had been.

"I just like, you know in those cartoons where someone sees red and just goes berserk? That's what it was like. I barely even remember any of it until Fitz was on my back trying to hold my arms down and pull me away. I, uh… I guess I got at least a few punches in on all of them, but I really messed up that bitch Myka's face. Fitz said I actually scared him, that I'd just gone completely Amazon on them."

Jemma could see the stormy look in Skye's eyes, could see that she was even a little scared of her own actions, so she released her good hand's hold on Skye and lifted it up to pull her back into a hug. "It's okay, Skye. I would've done the same – or at least tried to, if I saw someone do _this_ to you," she whispered next to the brunette's ear, and felt Skye slowly relax against her and slip both arms around her.

"They could've _killed_ you, Jems," Skye finally murmured, her voice raw. "If they had kicked you or hit you in just the wrong spot, or didn't stop when they did, they could have killed you. That's what I thought when I saw you on the ground, and it scared the _hell_ out of me, and I realized I-" Skye's eyes flickered up at her, and then back down, chewing on her lower lip. "You're the most important person in my life and I don't think I'd be able to even function if you weren't around."

If Jemma hadn't already spent half the day crying, she knew she'd have done so then, but her tearducts seemed to have been drained dry. She settled for fisting her fingers into the back of Skye's tank top. "Skye," her voice shook. "I know, I feel the same. Fitz, he's wonderful, but he'll never be as much to me as you are."

Skye had returned to pressing her face into Jemma's neck, and she could feel Skye's lips quirk up into a small smile against her skin before her friend pulled back again.

"It's just…" Skye started, her smile turning to a frown. "It's just crap, you know? We're just teenagers. We should be worrying about what to wear, what parties to go to, being nervous about our next date, worrying about our next test, or about applying to college. We shouldn't have to be thinking about whether our friends are going to get attacked or treated like shit just because they're gay, or bi, or trans, or because they're not white enough. It's bullshit that we're here in the twenty-first century and that's what we still have to deal with."

"My idealistic little hacker," Jemma smiled fondly, and ran her hand up and down the back of Skye's shirt. "I wish it worked that way too, but it takes time for things to change."

"I know," Skye said, her pout audible in her voice. "It just sucks."

"It does, but having friends like you makes it 'suck' a good deal less."

Skye waggled her eyebrows, a hand coming up to hide a yawn. "I know, I'm kind of that awesome, aren't I."

"And modest," Jemma chuckled, rolling her eyes.

Skye yawned again, and then sighed. "Haven't gotten much sleep. D'you… think I could take a catnap here?"

"Of course," Jemma said, watching the way Skye was eying the part of the hospital bed she was already leaning against. She gingerly scooted herself over to make enough room on the bed for Skye, wincing only slightly at the dull pain in her arm and her ribs at the movement.

Skye grinned sleepily, and wasted no time in clambering up onto the small space on the mattress, and curled herself up in it, pressing flush against Jemma, who slid her arm back around Skye's shoulders. Skye rested her head on Jemma's uninjured shoulder, and Jemma could see her eyes already slipping closed, and she wondered again just how many waking hours Skye had spent here over the last few days.

"If the nurses come in, they may make you move, sleepy-head," Jemma warned her.

Skye 'hmm'ed as she moved her head around Jemma's shoulder until she found a comfortable spot. "I'll just tell 'em to bite me. Best friend cuddles should be the top prescribed medicine for everyone," Skye murmured.

Jemma couldn't find any part of her that disagreed with that as Skye's breathing evened out into tiny little snores into Jemma's hospital gown. Maybe it was partly due to the pain medicine she'd taken shortly before Skye had arrived, but she hadn't felt as good as she felt now since she'd first woke up. And it didn't really matter, in the big picture, if she'd fallen in love with her best friend, because even if Skye could never return her feelings, just having her here – just having her in her life – that was enough.

By the time her parents returned from getting their food, Jemma had joined Skye in slumber, and she stirred only slightly as her mother covered the two of them with a blanket from the tiny closet in the hospital room.

* * *

-==(16)==-

-==(16)==-

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _Well, hope you guys enjoyed it. That's the darkest this little series will probably get. But these sorts of bullying against LGBT teens are quite real. I was 'fortunate' enough to only have experienced verbal abuse through high school (sadly I've even gotten some here in college), but the attack on Jemma, including the hair cutting, is actually something that happened to a close friend of mine (and yep, me and a few our other friends shaved our heads after) in high school. It's a pretty messed up world, but there's always a bright side to things, always good people there, even if it doesn't feel like it sometimes._

 _Anyway, I've got like one more one-shot fully planned and another in the beginning of planning stages in this series, those are college and a bit later. After that, I've got bits and pieces of ideas of shorter little scenes in amongst the timeline of this series (a few cute grade school and high school ideas – possibly Jemma's initial coming out? - that I might develop), but yeah, that's the main chunk of the rest of this series. See you guys next time, and please, leave a review/like/follow/reblog (if you're reading this on Tumblr), etc.. Feedback of any sort is wonderful._


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